Evaporation Pan

operating instructions

Description
The evaporation pan of this standard set is made of stainless steel and has the
dimensions of a class A evaporation pan, namely 54 mm (10 inches) in height
and 1206 mm (47.5 inches) in diameter. The evaporation pan is installed on the
wooden support, which is set and levelled on the ground in a grassy location,
away from bushes, trees and other obstacles which obstruct a natural air flow
around the pan, thus representing open water in an open area.
Daily the result of evaporation and precipitation is measured within the still well,
by means of a high quality evaporation micrometer with a measuring range of
100 mm and an accuracy of 0.02 mm. This accuracy can be obtained because the
still well prevents rippling of the water surface.
The amount of evaporation is a function of temperature, humidity, wind and other
ambient conditions. In order to relate the evaporation to wind current or expected
conditions, the maximum and minimum temperature as well as the amount of air
passed are recorded with the evaporation. For a more exact use of the evaporation pan it is recommended to use an additional wind path meter.

Stilling well with micrometer

For automatic measurement of the evaporation use can be made of a level sensor. The
level sensor consists of a sensitive pressure
transducer built in a stainless steel housing.
The sensor has a pressure range of 0-20 mbar,
accuracy 0,25%. Output signal 0-20 mA,
Reading the micrometer
power supply voltage 8-28 V. The sensor is
supplied with 5 m cable.
The sensor is read-out with a datalogger. To configure and read-out the datalogger and to process the measuring data, use is made of the evaporation pan
software.
Level sensor for automatic
measurement

All it takes for environmental research

P.O. Box 4, 6987 ZG Giesbeek,
the Netherlands
May 2009

T +31 313 88 02 00
F +31 313 88 02 99

E info@eijkelkamp.com
I www.eijkelkamp.com


M4.16.89.E

Measuring principle
An evaporation pan provides a measurement of the combined effect of temperature, humidity, windspeed and
sunshine on the reference crop evapotranspiration ETo.

The principle of the evaporation pan is the following:

the pan is installed in the field

the pan is filled with a known quantity of water (the surface area of the pan is known and the water depth is
measured)

the water is allowed to evaporate during a certain period of time (usually 24 hours). For example, each morning
at 7 oclock a measurement is taken. The rainfall, if any, is measured simultaneously

after 24 hours, the remaining quantity of water (i.e. water depth) is measured

the amount of evaporation per time unit (the difference between the two measured water depths) is calculated;
this is the pan evaporation: E pan (in mm/24 hours)

the E pan is multiplied by a pan coefficient, K pan, to obtain the ETo.
Formula: ETo = K pan E pan
with:
ETo : reference crop evapotranspiration
K pan : pan coefficient
E pan : pan evaporation
If the water depth in the pan drops too much (due to lack of rain), water is added and the water depth is measured before and after the water is added. If the water level rises too much (due to rain) water is taken out of the
pan and the water depths before and after are measured.

Determination of K pan
When using the evaporation pan to estimate the ETo, in fact, a comparison is made between the evaporation from
the water surface in the pan and the evapotranspiration of the standard grass. Of course the water in the pan and
the grass do not react in exactly the same way to the climate. Therefore a special coefficient is used (K pan) to
relate one to the other.
The pan coefficient, K pan, depends on:

the type of pan used

the pan environment: if the pan is placed in a fallow or cropped area

the climate: the humidity and windspeed

For the Class A evaporation pan, the K pan varies between 0.35 and 0.85. Average K pan = 0.70.
The K pan is high if:
the pan is placed in a fallow area
the humidity is high (i.e. humid)
the windspeed is low

The K pan is low if:

the pan is placed in a cropped area
the humidity is low (i.e. dry)
the windspeed is high

If the pan factor is not known the average value could be used. If more accuracy is required, the pan factors can
be taken grom the table below (for class A pan only). Table: Pan coefficients (Kp) for Class A pan for different pan
siting and environment and different levels of mean relative humidity and wind speed (FAO Irrigation and Drainage
Paper No. 24)

Example:
1) Type of pan: Class A evaporation pan
Water depth in pan on day 1 = 150 mm
Water depth in pan on day 2 = 144 mm (after 24 hours)
Rainfall (during 24 hours) = 0 mm
K pan = 0.75
Formula: ETo = K pan E pan
Calculation: E pan = 150 - 144 = 6 mm/day
ETo = 0.75 6 =4.5 mm/day

For more information:

www.fao.org
Crop evapotranspiration - Guidelines for computing crop water requirements - Irrigation and drainage paper 56
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